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The Computer, Now a Fixture In U.S. Homes

Newsday has this article on a study by the National Science Foundation which states that 54% of homes now have computers.\"If you don\'t have a computer in your home, you\'re in the minority nationally, a federal poll has found. For the first time, more than half of American adults now have home computers, according to a National Science Foundation survey. And just under half are using their computers to go online.\"

\"In the first national study to make such a finding, the report-known as the Science and Engineering Indicators 2000-said that the number of people with a computer at home rose from 42 percent in 1997 to 54 percent in 1999.\"

\"Home computers with Internet access, meanwhile, rose to 46 percent from 21 percent just five years earlier, which some people said yesterday is reflective of the explosive rise in popularity of e-mail and e-commerce.\"

\"It\'s growing because people are finding terrific uses and, frankly, it is a more convenient way to purchase things quickly, and to find information quickly,\" said Pamela Smith, vice president of the NPD group, a market research firm based in Port Washington.\"

\"I subscribe to AOL,\" said Amado Gonzales, a Kings Park resident who said he bought his computer just a year and a half ago. \"My wife has lymphoma, so she uses the Net to chat with other people that have the same sickness. And she\'s always looking for information.\" Gonzales said he also uses e-mail frequently to keep in touch with daughters who live in Georgia and New Jersey, and to keep up with the news.\"